The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling

dc.contributor.advisorBowen, Paul Aen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStrez, Henryk Andrzej Leonen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-30T13:36:51Z
dc.date.available2018-01-30T13:36:51Z
dc.date.issued1991en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this thesis was to acquaint the reader on the nature of the uncertainty present in construction price forecasting and to introduce an environment that has the ability to integrate these uncertainties with greater consistency than that possessed by available price models. The objective of this thesis was to establish that uncertainty can be explicitly treated in price forecasting models. This would have two benefits to concerned parties. Firstly, the effectiveness of price forecasts could be improved as provision could be made for any uncertain variable. This will be of great benefit to the client, as a more accurate assessment of the building process could be established at an earlier stage of the design process. Secondly, the price forecast will be more useful to quantity surveyors, architects and clients, as it would 'quantify' the extent of the uncertainty which could be provided for in a more meaningful manner. In order to establish that existing price models do not deal with the uncertainty present at the time of forecasting, the price models used by practitioners were evaluated against the different types of uncertainty found at the different stages of the price forecasting process. Once this had been established, eight techniques that have the ability to treat various forms of uncertainty, were presented. After analysing the techniques abilities to cope with the uncertainties associated with price forecasting, it was established that certain of these techniques do have the ability, and are suitable, to be incorporated into the price forecasting process. From the results of a questionnaire survey conducted on quantity surveying offices in South Africa, it was found that the price models used by practitioners do not take uncertainty into account, and have in fact, the potential for uncertainty inducement. Some of the uncertainty found to be present in the preparation of a construction price forecast include the lack or incompleteness of design information, the uncertainty in the communication of design information, the variability in the data used by quantity surveyors and, the uncertainty in the choice of price model during the different stages of the design process. As a possible solution to the problem of uncertainty, an expert system environment, utilising a three-dimensional classification of uncertainty, has been proposed. It has been proved that this environment has the ability to cater for the uncertainty associated with the price forecasting process, as well as having the attribute of providing the user with the reasoning behind the logic that the expert system has followed, a characteristic not possible with the traditional forms of price models. From the findings of this thesis, it can be concluded that the methods of price modelling used by quantity surveying practitioners, are unable to take uncertainty into account effectively. It can also be concluded that an expert system environment has the ability to handle the different forms of uncertainty found at the various stages of construction design. The proposed model is conceptual in nature and has not been tested in practice. It is therefore recommended that further research be carried out in this field, with the aim of producing a construction price forecasting expert system which utilises the proposed three-dimensional classification of uncertainty.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationStrez, H. A. L. (1991). <i>The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Construction Economics and Management. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27115en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationStrez, Henryk Andrzej Leon. <i>"The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Construction Economics and Management, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27115en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationStrez, H. 1991. The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Strez, Henryk Andrzej Leon AB - The purpose of this thesis was to acquaint the reader on the nature of the uncertainty present in construction price forecasting and to introduce an environment that has the ability to integrate these uncertainties with greater consistency than that possessed by available price models. The objective of this thesis was to establish that uncertainty can be explicitly treated in price forecasting models. This would have two benefits to concerned parties. Firstly, the effectiveness of price forecasts could be improved as provision could be made for any uncertain variable. This will be of great benefit to the client, as a more accurate assessment of the building process could be established at an earlier stage of the design process. Secondly, the price forecast will be more useful to quantity surveyors, architects and clients, as it would 'quantify' the extent of the uncertainty which could be provided for in a more meaningful manner. In order to establish that existing price models do not deal with the uncertainty present at the time of forecasting, the price models used by practitioners were evaluated against the different types of uncertainty found at the different stages of the price forecasting process. Once this had been established, eight techniques that have the ability to treat various forms of uncertainty, were presented. After analysing the techniques abilities to cope with the uncertainties associated with price forecasting, it was established that certain of these techniques do have the ability, and are suitable, to be incorporated into the price forecasting process. From the results of a questionnaire survey conducted on quantity surveying offices in South Africa, it was found that the price models used by practitioners do not take uncertainty into account, and have in fact, the potential for uncertainty inducement. Some of the uncertainty found to be present in the preparation of a construction price forecast include the lack or incompleteness of design information, the uncertainty in the communication of design information, the variability in the data used by quantity surveyors and, the uncertainty in the choice of price model during the different stages of the design process. As a possible solution to the problem of uncertainty, an expert system environment, utilising a three-dimensional classification of uncertainty, has been proposed. It has been proved that this environment has the ability to cater for the uncertainty associated with the price forecasting process, as well as having the attribute of providing the user with the reasoning behind the logic that the expert system has followed, a characteristic not possible with the traditional forms of price models. From the findings of this thesis, it can be concluded that the methods of price modelling used by quantity surveying practitioners, are unable to take uncertainty into account effectively. It can also be concluded that an expert system environment has the ability to handle the different forms of uncertainty found at the various stages of construction design. The proposed model is conceptual in nature and has not been tested in practice. It is therefore recommended that further research be carried out in this field, with the aim of producing a construction price forecasting expert system which utilises the proposed three-dimensional classification of uncertainty. DA - 1991 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1991 T1 - The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling TI - The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27115 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/27115
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationStrez HAL. The treatment of uncertainty in construction price modelling. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Construction Economics and Management, 1991 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27115en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Construction Economics and Managementen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherQuantity Surveyingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherConstruction industry - Costs - Forecastingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBuilding - Estimatesen_ZA
dc.titleThe treatment of uncertainty in construction price modellingen_ZA
dc.typeBachelor Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelHonours
dc.type.qualificationnameBScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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